


Shelter

by VictoryanBladeFair



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Gen, Survival, Violence Against Walkers, Walkers (Walking Dead), Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, it's TWD so ofc there's cursing blood and violance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 21:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10625073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoryanBladeFair/pseuds/VictoryanBladeFair
Summary: Shelter[shel-ter]nounA dwelling place or home considered as a refuge from the elements.So, since my best friend and I absolutely love TWD, we decided to post this fanfiction, and maybe someone else could like it too. It started as a small idea, but eventually I started writing it down for my best friend to read.Summary of the first two chapters:Val and Ray have been friends since they met in high-school and, after graduation, they decided to take a trip to America, where they eventually got stuck after a virus outbreak. Almost two years after the start of the zombie apocalypse, they meet two men, whose names are Rick and Daryl.What could happen if they decide to stay in Alexandria?





	1. Survivors

**Author's Note:**

> So, as I wrote in the summary, this fic is for pure fun and Ray and I decided to share our love for TWD with you guys.
> 
> Hope you like it, leave comments and kudos if you do! We'd appreciate very kindly your support :D Also, English is not my first language, so I apologize if something I wrote is misspelled or lacks some sense.
> 
> Enjoy!

There was nothing in sight, only desert roads rounded by tall trees. There was occasionally a walker roaming here and there. Val looked at Ray's peaceful face, her curly head was leaning against the window, dreaming of happier times. She had kept watch all night yesterday, besides, she spent most of the time behind the wheel, always driving them somewhere but never reaching a destination.

Val's eyes went back to the road, a quick glance at the gas counter, a red light turned on. They were running out of gas, not just that, but the old car was making some strange noises under the hood. The brunette slowed down when she noticed something up ahead, walkers moving their way and, by the looks of it, it might've been a herd as well.

Ray groaned in her seat, sitting up straight while rubbing her tired eyes. "Why did you stop?"

"There's a herd on the road." Val explained reluctantly.

"Then turn around the car." Ray told her, squeezing her eyes to look at the walkers piling up on the road.

Val tied her hair in a messy bun and sighed defeated. "I can't, we run out of gas." She slapped the palms of her hands against her thighs.

Ray's eyes widened in a slight shock, then she proceeded to unfasten her seatbelt, grabbing her backpack and got out of the car. Val turned off the engine of the car and did the same as her friend did. "1 year, 8 months and 2 weeks after the Zombie Apocalypse started and we can't find a single car that works, nor gas for what matters!" Her outburst drew the unwanted attention of more walkers in the distance.

"Hey, it's not like we had a choice in pickin' up this old crap." The curly girl kicked one of the tires of the car in frustration. "There were so many cars around before, and now everything's missing. Cars, gas, batteries..."

"...Music." Val added. She opened the door of the car and grabbed her backpack from behind the driver's seat, putting it on her back and then taking the katana sword too, hooking it up on her belt, left hip.

"Judging by the map," Ray observed, a wrinkled map opened up on the plain surface of the car's hood, "there is a town here," she pointed at a place over a sweep of trees, "and here." She pointed then at an opposite direction. "But who knows, I might be wrong." Ray got the habit of picking up a paper map in each place that they stopped, making always sure to have a route of escape in case anything happened, which came in handy more than once.

A horrible groan made Val turn her head towards the herd, a walker was now too close to them. She unsheathed her katana and sliced the walker's head, its body falling down to the ground. "The second's too far away." Val noted, looking around as more walkers charged towards them. Ray quickly folded the map and shoved it in her backpack, getting her machete ready to kill some walkers.

"Then it's settled, we're going left."


	2. Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Val meet Rick and Deryl

"We've been walking for hours, now... It's getting dark." Ray commented, exhausted as she was, she leaned against a tree for support.

Val nodded, looking around the enormous forest. They'd occasionally encounter a walker and chop off its head, but each step they took, they got more and more tired, running out of water too. "Don't lose hope, we might be closer than we think." Val encouraged the other brunette. "Come now, we should try to get out of the forest as soon as possible and find a shelter."

The two started walking again after the short break. The worn out shoes on their feet hurt them, but they didn't complain to each other, there was no need to. A single glance was enough for them to share their silent thoughts. How did they end up in that situation? Well, a trip to America sounded great back then, a little bit just after they had finished high-school, they couldn't have possibly imagined that the world was fast descending to hell.

The two of them were both very tall, one with brown curly hair and dark eyes, the other with long straight brown hair too, but her eyes had a yellow tint to them. Many things could've been said about their friendship and personalities, but none of that mattered now as the only things they did was try and survive. Val couldn't help but think most of the time what would have happened to her if Ray hadn't been there with her. She would have probably lost her mind. They weren't just friends, they treated each other like sisters.

"What's on your mind?" Ray asked Val, drawing her out of her thoughts. The older girl shook hear head, then shrugged, it was quite typical of her.

"It's just... We haven't seen anyone around in a very long time." She replied whilst scratching her head.

"And?" Ray nudged her friend to continue.

"I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing." It was only natural to worry about something like that. The last time they met some people, they had not been nice at all. Val pushed aside her bad thoughts and stopped in her tracks. "Look, a town." They made their way outside of the forest, carefully looking around for possible threats. Ray held her machete like a tennis racket, ready to strike down any enemy. 

The town was desert, only a few walkers roaming around. As they searched for a store to grab some supplies, the sound of an engine in the distance alerted them of someone's presence. They looked at each other and run behind a building to hide, hoping that the car would just pass by and leave soon. Val tightened her grip on the handle of the katana, the weapon was out just in case.

"Val, walkers are heading our way, there's too many of them." Ray whispered in her ear, her left hand of the other girl's right shoulder.

"If we move, those people out there are going to see us." She replied, her breathing quickening as she tried to think about a strategy to avoid both the living and the dead. The alley they were hiding in was too narrow, there was no way they could run up all the way behind the buildings, the only choice left was to go back on the main road as the walkers charged towards them. "Go, I'll hold them back!" Val shouted at Ray, her sword soon digging into the walkers' skulls. When she saw that there were too many of them, she quickly left after Ray, who had run out on the street, where even more walkers came into view.

"Val!" She screamed frightened as her machete got stuck in a walker's body. Val jumped in between Ray and the walkers, swinging the blade of her sword on their bodies, them falling down to the ground in a pool of blood. She gave Ray enough time to get a grip on her machete and retract it.

Just when Val was about to strike down another two walkers, an arrow hit one's temple, the body of the walker banged down on the concrete. "What the..?" The girl got distracted by the sudden action, and Ray brought her machete up in the air, decapitating the only walker left.

Both the girls' eyes turned to look at the person who shot the arrow, finding a tall guy with a crossbow in his arms. He had reloaded the next arrow fast, pointing the weapon their way. The two froze in place, unsure of what was about to happen, but the guy slowly lowered his crossbow. Someone got out of the car that was behind the guy, asking him to wait. The guy with the crossbow had mid length brown hair and a bit of a stubble, his body was sturdy and his blue eyes were quite menacing. The second man was tall and slender, short brown hair with a beard a bit longer than the other man's.

"We don't want any trouble." Val spoke up, trying to keep a calm and composed self. Ray was standing next to Val, observing the men's movements with distrust.

"We're not going to hurt you, ok?" The man that came out of the car replied, as if he was some kind of leader. He exchanged a quick glance with his partner before continuing to speak. "We can give you help, if you need it."

"That's kind of difficult to believe." Ray retorted as she noticed the guns on their waists, apart from the crossbow.

"Name's Rick, this is Daryl." Rick introduced themselves.

A walker approached Ray and Val, arms tangling along the body, then raising towards the girls. Ray was about to move and finish off the walking corpse, when Val swiftly grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. The curly girl at first didn't understand, but her friend wanted to test these strangers, see if they truly wanted to help. The reply to her answer came when another arrow was shot, hitting the walker in the left eye and it falling down.

"I'm Ray, this is Val." Even though they had helped them, the girls knew that kindness always came with a price. "We have nothing valuable on us. We're just passing through this place, and we don't plan to stick here."

"We have a group, a safe place. If you want, you could join us." The man whose name was Rick made them on offer. "But we have to ask you some questions first."

Val looked at Ray, blinking her eyes twice, a sign that meant 'let's hear it out', and the other girl blinked once to signal an okay. "What are the questions?"

"How many walkers have you killed?" Daryl, who had been silent till then, spoke to the girls.

"A lot." Ray replied looking down at her feet, dead bodies sprawled on the concrete.

"How many people have you killed?" Daryl asked again.

Ray did not reply this time, she just looked over at Val, who had a slight crease between her eyebrows. She now knew why they wanted to ask them some questions, because they wanted to see if they could trust each other. Val hesitated, and when Ray whispered to her that she didn't have to answer, she told them. "Three."

"Why?" Rick was the one who asked them.

"Because if someone tries to take away the only precious thing you have left, you fight to keep it safe." That was her final answer, as Val locked her eyes with Rick's.


End file.
